OWCP News Release: [02/14/2013]
Contact Name: Adriano Llosa
Phone Number: (202) 693-4686
Email Address: llosa.adriano.t@dol.gov
Release Number: 13-0267-DAL

US Department of Labor to host town hall meetings in Española, NM, Feb. 20 to assist nuclear weapons workers

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs will host four town hall meetings Wednesday, Feb. 20, in Española, N.M., regarding the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act and also invites the public to take advantage of its Traveling Resource Center.

Town hall meetings at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. MST will deliver information about medical benefits under the EEOICPA, which provides compensation and medical benefits to employees who became ill as a result of working in the nuclear weapons industry. Specific information will be discussed concerning home health care services, the Privacy Act and how to better serve EEOICPA claimants.

Two additional town hall meetings at 9:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. will provide former Los Alamos National Laboratory employees with information about a new class of employees recently added to the Special Exposure Cohort of the EEOICPA. A worker who is included in a designated SEC class of employees, and who is diagnosed with one of 22 specified cancers, may receive a presumption of causation under the EEOICPA. Staff from the Traveling Resource Center and OWCP’s Seattle District Office will be available at the meetings and for extended hours throughout the day to assist individuals with existing claims and filing new claims under the EEOICPA.

On Dec. 7, 2012, the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services designated the following class of employees as an addition to the SEC: all employees of the U.S. Department of Energy, its predecessor agencies, and their contractors and subcontractors who worked at LANL in Los Alamos, N.M., from Jan. 1, 1976, through Dec. 31, 1995, for at least 250 workdays occurring either solely under this employment or in combination with workdays within other classes of employees in the SEC. This designation became effective on Jan. 6, 2013. The Labor Department’s role is to adjudicate these claims based on the new SEC designation as determined and introduced by HHS.

To date, $342.6 million in EEOICPA compensation and medical benefits has been paid to 3,337 LANL claimants, while more than $9 billion has been paid nationwide. For additional information about the upcoming town hall meetings or to schedule an appointment for claim-filing assistance, contact the department’s Española Resource Center toll-free at 866-272-3622. These meetings are open to the public, and pre-registration is not required. Space is limited and seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis.

LOCATION:

The Misión in the Plaza de Española
State Road 84/285 and Los Alamos Hwy State Road 30
Española, N.M. 87532

DATE:

Wednesday, Feb. 20

MEDICAL BENEFITS TOWN HALL
MEETING TIMES:

11 a.m. and 6 p.m. MST

SEC TOWN HALL
MEETING TIMES:

9:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. MST

EXTENDED RESOURCE
CENTER TIMES:

9 a.m.-1 p.m. and 3:30-7:30 p.m. MST

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